Danzacuentos: Voz, Cuerpo y Raíces
An online media series that asks: What can we learn when we listen to the lived experiences of Latinx, Hispanic, and Indigenous artists?
Featuring interviews with Snowflake Calvert, Dulce Escobedo & Marianna Escobedo, Cinthia Pérez Navarro, and Lyvan Verdecia. Co-curated by Mario Ismael Espinoza, David Herrera, and Karla Quintero.
AUGUST 30, 2021: Virtual Exhibit Launch, featuring in-depth interviews and artifacts from each artist’s creative process.
SEPT 17, 2021 5:00 - 6:30PM PDT: Live Virtual Talk and Q&A with Danzacuentos artists & co-curators.
Language interpretation (English/Spanish) will be provided for the live panel. The virtual exhibit will be bilingual. Artist interviews will include closed captions and transcripts. Please contact admin@hopemohr.org with any additional access needs. We will do our best to accommodate.
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ABOUT THE ARTISTS /
Snowflake Calvert (Yaqui, Raramuri, and Tzotzil Mayan heritage) is a Two-Spirit artist who serves as the President of Queers United for Intersectional Liberation. She produces queer events throughout California and Oregon for political, social, and cultural activism through the artistry of her radical queerness. In addition, she is a professional dancer, teacher, and entrepreneur. She was a member of The Haus of Towers, is affiliated with the Bay Area American Indian Two-Spirit Powwow, teaches decolonization through movement workshops, is the former owner/director of The Dance Zone Studio, and is currently expanding her collaborative work of "Seeds and Sequins."
Dulce Escobedo Muñoz is a choreographer, dancer, and performing artist based in Tijuana, Baja California. Dulce has a degree in dance from the Gloria Campobello School of Dance, previously directed by Professor Margarita Robles Regalado. She has trained at some of the most prestigious dance schools and institutions from all over the world including schools in the United States, Mexico, Cuba, Spain, Italy, Israel, among others. In addition to extensive knowledge in the performing arts, she has a degree in International Relations, which has allowed her to develop as cultural bearer and curator for various international dance projects, including serving as a founder and director for the Festival Internacional de Danza Veinte Once, a stand out among her presenting work, for which she received support from México’s National Endowment for Culture and Arts (FONCA) in 2019. She is also the Founder & Artistic Co-Director of and Teacher at the Conservatorio de Danza México, an independent art space whose mission is to offer professional, multidisciplinary training to dancers in Tijuana. Her choreographic inquiries have led her to create dance projects for the camera and venture into the world of street art. Her choreographic work has appeared in noteworthy international stages, including in Mexico, Cuba and the United States.
Marianna Escobedo Muñoz is a Founding Director of the Conservatorio de Danza México located in Tijuana, Baja California. She has a degree in dance from the Universidad de las Américas, in Puebla, Mexico. Since 2015, she has served as the Operations Manager for Producciones Escobedo, where she has staged dance works and galas involving a roster of international dance companies including Lizt Alfonso Dance Cuba (Havana, Cuba), Teatr3s (Barcelona, Spain), Ballet del Noroeste de México, Joffrey Ballet School, and the Lombard Twins (NY, US). She directs the Festival Internacional de Danza Veinte Once and is a member of the International Dance Council (CID), an umbrella organization bridging all forms of dance in all countries of the world that is part of UNESCO. In addition, she has started exploring dance filmmaking with the support of training from Douglas Rosenberg and Ximena Monroy. Marianna also has a Masters in New Documentary Photography from LABASAD Barcelona School of Arts & Design.
Cinthia Pérez Navarro is a dancer, teacher, and independent performance maker originally from Puebla, Mexico. She also works as a Somatic Movement Educator for the Body Mind Movement school in México, is a Somatic Movement Educator at Mexico’s Body Mind Movement School, works for the Centro de Estudios Superiores Sisti teaching dance to undergraduates, and is the head of Contemporary Dance at the IBERO Talleres Artísticos Puebla. Additionally, Cinthia is a member of the bi-national, interdisciplinary collective Chicken Bank and the performance collective XIP, where she co-creates contemporary theater works for the stage. She also coordinates RISOMA Retiro CI México and jams for Puebla’s contact improvisation community.
Lyvan Verdecia was born in Havana, Cuba. He graduated from the National Ballet School of Cuba in 2013 and joined the National Ballet Of Cuba through December 2014, where he developed as a dancer and choreographer. Along with performing and choreographing Lyvan enjoys sharing the knowledge of his craft by teaching at various companies, schools and summer programs. Among them are the National Ballet of Cuba, Kingsport Ballet, the New Jersey Dance Theater Ensemble, Art Vida Academy and the Ballet Hispanico School of Dance. In 2017 Lyvan was awarded the prestigious Princess Grace Award. Currently Lyvan is in his fourth season with Ballet Hispanico and enjoys the opportunities given to not only to impact audiences as a performer but as a teacher in workshops around the country as part of the company’s outreach initiative.
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ABOUT THE CO-CURATORS
Mario Ismael Espinoza, LMSW (they/them), is a Mexican immigrant born to native Mexican people in Kumeyaay territory, currently in the early stages of their career in social work. Mario transitioned to the field of human services after 12 years in professional concert dance. Currently a social worker with The Actors Fund, Mario provides mental health services and clinical case management for Entertainment Industry professionals. Mario’s clinical focus is derived from a deep commitment to social justice and mental health, which gives rise to an anti-oppressive approach to delivery of clinical services.
David Herrera (he/him) is a gay Latinx choreographer, producer, and community leader in San Francisco, California and artistic director of David Herrera Performance Company (DHPCo.). DHPCo. centers Latinx and Hispanic experiences in their dance work and through their community impact programming. David holds B.A.s in American Studies and Theater Arts, and a graduate certificate in Theater/Dance from U.C. Santa Cruz. In 2007, he launched David Herrera Performance Company as a response to the lack of Latinx visibility and representation in the U.S. modern/contemporary dance field. Through DHPCo., he has launched LatinXtensions, a 12-month mentorship for emerging Latinx and Hispanic dance artists, and Latinx Hispanic Dancers United, a national caucus, pipeline, and network from which working artists unite to form coalitions, collaborate, and gain cultural and political power.
David serves as advisor to the Festival of Latin American Contemporary Choreographers, is an Isadora Duncan Awards committee member where he serves as Publicity chair and is a part of the Equity Diversity and Inclusion sub-committee, and is co-facilitator of Dancing Around Race, a community arts organization dedicated to the research and implementation of cultural equity in the dance sector led by Gerald Casel. David has also mentored homeless individuals through the Community Housing Partnership in San Francisco. He has served in multiple grant and opportunity panels.
Karla Quintero (she/her) is a Latin-American, Oakland-based artist whose work explores themes of intimacy, consumption, biculturalism, and defamiliarization. Dance improvisation is her primary tool, but her creative work orients beyond dance. She performs in the works of other local artists and co-directs The Bridge Project, an equity-driven presenting platform.